Charlton Down, Cerne Abbas & Puddletown

Dorset · South West · population 12,380 · 5 LSOAs

Approximate neighbourhood (MSOA) boundary. © OpenStreetMap contributors; boundary © ONS / Crown copyright.

58Area Score / 100 ?
  • #2,870 of 6,856 in England
  • #333 of 710 in South West
  • #22 of 48 in Dorset
  • Around the England average
Compare this area →

People living here Census 2021

Residents12,205
Median age (est.)52
Density45per km²
No qualifications13%
Degree or above39%
No car or van8%

Age

0–14 14%15–24 8%25–44 18%45–64 31%65+ 29%

Tenure

Own outright: 46%Mortgage/shared: 27%Social rent: 11%Private rent: 16%
Own outright 46%Mortgage/shared 27%Social rent 11%Private rent 16%

Households

One person: 27%Couple, no children: 22%Couple with children: 24%Lone parent: 7%Other: 21%
One person 27%Couple, no children 22%Couple with children 24%Lone parent 7%Other 21%

Work (top occupations)

Professional 20% · Managers & directors 16% · Skilled trades 14%

All occupation groups
Professional20%
Managers & directors16%
Skilled trades14%
Associate professional13%
Caring & leisure9%
Administrative9%
Elementary8%
Sales & customer service6%
Process & plant4%

Ethnic group

White: 98%Asian: 1%Black: 0%Mixed: 1%Other: 0%
White 98%Asian 1%Black 0%Mixed 1%Other 0%

Religion & identity

Christian 55% · No religion 36% · Other 1%

Born outside the UK: 6%

Census 2021 (ONS), Crown copyright, OGL v3.0. Shares are of each question's own respondents (e.g. education is % of residents aged 16+). Figures date from March 2021 and change slowly between censuses.

In summary

Charlton Down, Cerne Abbas & Puddletown is close to the England average for deprivation, ranked #2,870 of 6,856 neighbourhoods nationally, and #22 of 48 in Dorset. It is highly uneven across the seven themes — strong on Crime (91) but weak on Housing & access (3). Typical homes here sold for about £380,000 over the past year, up 8% across five years (from 187 sales), 10% above the wider Dorset median of £345,000. Typical household take-home income is around £43,257 a year, around the middle of England. Recorded crime ran at 21 incidents per 1,000 residents over the past year, well below the England rate of 83.

Themed scores ?

Each 0–100, higher = less deprived on that theme. National rank shown.

Income 77 · #1,568
Employment 75 · #1,698
Education 71 · #1,979
Health 86 · #930
Crime 91 · #588
Housing & access 3 · #6,675
Living environment 19 · #5,530

House prices ?

£380,000median (12m) · -7.9% yr · n=187
TypeMedian (12m)Sales1yr5yr
All homes£380,000187-7.9%+8.0%
Detached£550,00075+5.5%+26.4%
Semi-detached£332,50058-8.3%-3.6%
Terraced£315,00039+0.8%+27.3%
Flat£192,50015+10.6%+6.9%
This area£380,000
Dorset£345,000
South West£310,000
England£300,000
Annual median price, all homes. Small samples can be volatile.

Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Household income

Net household income (a year)£43,257±£6,055 · #2,506 of 6,856
After housing costs (equivalised)£36,359
Price-to-income ?8.8×typical home ÷ net income — more stretched than the England figure of 7.5×

Model-based ONS estimates (FYE 2023) with 95% confidence intervals — a guide to the typical household, not a measurement. How income estimates work →

Affordability-adjusted Score ?

51Affordability-adjusted Score / 100
Best-value areas in England →

Recorded crime ?

21 crimes per 1,000 residents · 12 months · 255 offences
Dorset40
South West71
England83

Rank #34 of 6,427 areas with published data (1 = lowest recorded rate).

Category (12 months)Recorded
Violence & sexual offences132
Theft26
Burglary15
Vehicle crime16
Criminal damage & arson39
Public order & weapons17
Drugs7
Robbery1
Other2

Anti-social behaviour, recorded separately: 46 incidents.

Recorded incidents, not convictions. Crimes are counted where they happen while residents are counted where they live, so busy town-centre, retail and nightlife areas show high per-resident rates because visitors bring incidents with them. Street-level crime data © Crown copyright, data.police.uk, OGL v3.0. More on crime figures →

Official sources

Nearby areas

The closest neighbourhoods on the map, whichever authority they fall in.

Other areas in Dorset

Similar areas across England

Neighbourhoods with the closest Area Score elsewhere in the country, for comparison.